Budding young entrepreneurs showcase their wares

Edwin McGreal

The spirit of enterprise and innovation is alive and well among the children of Mayo.
Thirteen schools from all across the county completed the Junior Entrepreneur Programme and last Tuesday they were in GMIT, Castlebar to display their products and each reported a tidy profit.
The programme is run nationwide for primary school children and lasts between ten and 16 weeks. It is co-ordinated by a business in each county. CMS Peripherals in Kiltimagh oversaw the Mayo entries.
Both large and small schools in Mayo took part and last Tuesday saw them each have to present to over 200 people in the main hall in GMIT the story of their business.
Schools conducted market research, had to present their ideas to local ‘Dragons’ where the best idea was selected, produce, design, market and sell their product, all the time learning valuable skills in a team environment.
Gaelscoil na Cruaiche from Westport have been taking part in this competition for a number of years and many of their previous successful products were on display last Tuesday. This year’s product were impressive computer mouse mats commemorating the 1916 Rising. Anyone who saw the school’s excellent range of 1916 floats in this year’s Westport St Patrick’s Day parade will know the Rising was something very well marked in this school.
Craggagh NS, between Balla and Kiltimagh, came up with a business idea called Super Smoothies Ltd. Children in the three teacher school, under the direction of their Principal, Danny Charlton, sold smoothies to classmates, families and local people. They made a tidy profit of in excess of €300 and used the money to buy ukeleles for the school.
The six children in fifth and sixth class in Bullsmouth NS on Achill Island created a boardgame called Shortcuts, a play on Snakes and Ladders. Fifth class student Conor Conway came up with the idea and the six children then came together to market and sell the game.
They sold it for €3.99 and made €229 profit. Of that, 50 percent is going to charity, each of the six children reaped a five percent dividend of the profit themselves and the rest was used to pay for a trip to Mayo Rollerbowl after they left GMIT.
The Sales team from Bekan NS were on hand to tell us about their product and to try to sell some of it too! They came up with two related products – Krazy Keybandz and Krazy Keyringz. Also present were the Marketing team, the Finance team, the Story Telling team and the Design and Production team.
Their product could be sold in county or club colours and they made a handsome €724 profit. As well as selling to locals, they sold their product at the Mayo v Dublin National Football League game in February.
The fifth and sixth class children from Barnacarroll came up with the concept of Creative Colouring books. They sold the product to preschools, shops and parents and are using their profits to help pay for their school tour, where they will go to Kilmainham Gaol.
Scoil Íosa, Carracastle came up with a board game which is a local twist on Monopoly. In a novel idea, they contacted local businesses for advertising and the business name was then placed on the board game. They made a profit of over €500.  
Some of the red boxes to send you backways were very creative. There was ‘cycling without a helmet’, ‘did not do homework’ and ‘pothole’.
“We’ve a lot of potholes in Carracastle,” one of the children lamented.
Despite being only a one teacher school with 14 pupils, Cloghans Hill NS in south east Mayo have never been slow to succeed and their entrepreneurial idea was no different. They designed and created a cookbook.
They sold hard copies for €10 and for €5 you could get a soft copy emailed to you. Children from first class up took part and so strong was demand, that the school are close to selling out of their stock and are considering printing more.
Over the road in Ballindine the children there came up with the idea of a t-shirt to mark the competition. The stylish red number could be bought for just €7 for an adult size and €6.50 for a child. They made €330 profit and have kindly decided to give half of that to charity. The rest will go towards a day out for the school.
With a lot of Liverpool fans in the school, the children felt the t-shirt had to be red but were quick to dismiss a suggestion it could be red for Manchester United.
SN Sheamais from Barnacogue came up with some very creative and eye-catching Christmas decorations which would take pride of place in any home.
Glencastle NS from Belmullet came up with the concept of Colourful Canvases, which helped everyone in the class get involved. So popular were their creations that they sold out at a Showcase Day in the school.
The children from St Joseph’s NS, Ballinrobe made excellent use of unwanted glass jars. The children rounded up as many of these as possible and then set to work on painting them in a lovely variety of designs and sold them as candle holders.
St Attracta’s NS in Charlestown sold pancakes, calling their business ‘Pantastic’. Pancakes were available in a takeaway or delivery service and with a variety of fillings on offer, they were made to order. They sold them at a competitive €2 per pancake.
The children from Scoil Íosa, Ballina did a very good line in their own homemade hot chocolate which they made and sold in the school. They learned the importance of making a profit and marketing their product in the programme.
Speaking about the Junior Entrepreneur Programme, Frank Salmon, Managing Director and Founder of organising company CMS Peripherals, said the initiative was an ideal programme for children.
“Children are creative and curious by nature, and these are just two of the skills required to be successful in business. Through JEP, we want to show children just how much fun creating, working and succeeding in business can be,” he said.